Using Acupressure Through a School Gun Threat

Let’s face it. School staff shouldn’t need to figure out what to do if something goes haywire, like a gun threat. That craziness shouldn’t be happening at any school, especially a Kindergarten-Grade 6.

But that’s what did happen at Penngrove Elementary School when the staff received a call during recess from a guy who said he was coming to the school with a gun because he was not being allowed to speak to his kid. The call immediately created a two-hour lockdown in which the students were led into rooms with their teachers.

Two hours must have felt like ten when trying to keep a room of kids quiet and calm.

The teachers pulled it off.

The story is that they made it into a game for the younger children to ease tension and avoid scaring them. The games continued when it was time to evacuate by school buses to the local fire station, which became a “field trip”.

That was the “event” day.

But what about the residuals? What about how the parents felt after they were told about the threat and then they had to wait for their children to show up at the fire station?

Understandably, those parents were anxious because they had no way to assist in the situation. What about what some kids were dealing with that night and the following days? What about the staff who managed to keep it together and keep their students engaged and calm during the fiasco but then had to deal with the aftereffects?

Even when it seems like everyone is holding it together, the emotions running under the surface are fear, anxiety, and uncertainty. A child who suddenly gets anxious can easily create a stream of reactions that spreads to others. If an adult who is one of the supervisors get anxious, then the kids will quickly pick up on that feeling.

The key is maintaining a calm and safe environment, which comes from almost everyone there BEING in that peaceful space. It was lucky that the Penngrove staff were exceptional at fulfilling that goal.

Post Event Acupressure Support

Many of the older students also remembered what to do to keep calm even in a stressful situation. They recalled how to do self-help acupressure I’d taught them at a previous school assembly. Their parents and school staff had also participated in related workshops.

About a week after the school fiasco, I had the opportunity to spend time with the kindergarteners and some older students. I was there to connect with anyone feeling residuals from that crazy day.

The purpose was just to be there, listen to their stories, and help them understand that their feelings were natural reactions. And teach them self-help acupressure, which people of all ages can use to handle stress, relieve anxiousness, and let go of being overwhelmed.

Acupressure can help you accomplish that because it helps your body experience energetic balance, expand the breath, create calmness and grounding, feel safe, and rediscover joy and peace by letting go of the pattern of reaction to trauma.

The kindergartners were engaged and interacting as I showed them how to breathe deeper, even when something scary happened. One little guy, who was having a pretty hard day, was even able to calm down when I showed him and his classmates how to do the “jumper cables”.

Doing the jumper cables is the last step in the Daily Clean Your House Flow®, a nine-step self-help acupressure flow I wrote years ago for my clients and students. It’s easy to learn and easy to do.

Here’s a fun, animated video you can download to learn the easy steps. Get the Daily Clean Your House Flow video.

What those 5- and 6-year-olds experienced was a way to find calm and expansion of breath. They didn’t need to know everything else they were accomplishing. They just felt the space of ease.

To do the jumper cables, gently cup each thumb and finger, starting with the thumb on one hand and doing all the fingers. Then go to the next hand. When you do this, you’re connecting with all emotions and helping your body let go of anything jamming up the breath.

When I was with the older students, many KNEW what I was talking about and showed ME what they do for calm and expanded breath! I heard comments like, “It works even when it’s a really bad day, like what happened last week.”

They knew because I’d been with them for that school assembly, and I taught them the Daily Clean Your House Flow, as well as several other acupressure movements they could do to help with clarity and focus, to succeed at whatever they wanted to do better, and to feel healthier.

This was the most popular acupressure pose for calm and breath:

• With one hand, cup the sternum directly below the collarbones.
• With the other hand, hold your fingers on your tummy.

This pose works so well that it can even make a difference when you feel super anxious, like a student who doesn’t feel safe in a drill and has to go under the desk.

This video is an excerpt of a previous assembly I did showing the kids some tips on how to balance their energy and prepare for anxious moments. You’ll even see a 7-year-old share what she does when preparing for working through a drill.

So, imagine offering this information and tool for your students’ toolkits. Take it further and imagine offering these same techniques to your educators, staff, and parents. Imagine your entire school community having a toolkit that allows them a way to get on the other side of stress, anxiousness, overwhelm, fear, worry, anger, and even sadness.

Imagine THAT information making a difference if something terrible happens in your school. We don’t want the bad to happen, but it’s all about being proactive to be able to manage stress in high-anxiety situations.

And, no matter what, your students will be more empowered with a toolkit that enhances focus, clarity, and performance, supports a cooperative learning environment, and helps them achieve their potential.

Please contact me to get more acupressure information for yourself, your family, or your school community.

Upcoming Workshop – December 4

Are you overwhelmed by the demands of the holiday season?

Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered!

Give yourself the gift of joy and calm.

In just 90 minutes, using only your fingertips, discover how self-help acupressure can

• Reduce stress and anxiety
• Balance your emotions
• Get and keep you healthy
• Improve your sleep
• Create ways to be in gratitude and appreciate yourself

This Ultimate Holiday Survival Bootcamp is for the whole family, people of all ages. It works for both kids and adults and will give you the tools you need to become centered and grounded even during holiday events.

NO CHARGE! This event is Free!

Get all the event details and register today.

Stress in Summer – What a Bummer!

Summer is SUPPOSED to be FUN! Right?! That’s what we all plan for.

From our early childhood, most of us couldn’t wait for school to be over. Then we could do all the fun activities we wanted to do, and not the things we HAD to do, especially studying, tests and exams, and being in bed at a particular time.

My memories as a kid included bicycling daily, going to the lake to fish and swim, hanging out with friends, and reading all the fiction I could get my hands on.

Remember those days? What did you look forward to every summer – where you could almost predict the weather and how your days would unfold?

Now, here we are as adults. We definitely do things differently in the summer. Our activities revolve around being outside and using the longer daylight hours. And of course, most of us are all about enjoying the sun and the warm, balmy weather.

But we seem to now be living with extremes, which can bring on a lot of unexpected mental and physical stress.

MOTHER NATURE 2024

Because of the heat and wind, many are dealing with uncontrolled fires that create havoc, cause loss of homes, and result in losing a sense of well-being. I know that many areas of Canada and the United States are experiencing all that and much more because of fires and drought.

All that smoke affects the quality of air and our breathing. Instead of enjoying being outside, people are forced to stay indoors. Many people are having major respiratory issues show up. Other health issues create the need for medical intervention.

On the other side, many areas are experiencing intense rain. The weather is taxing their infrastructures – properties are flooded, roads are torn apart, and water systems are failing. Because of drainage and flooding issues, people are forced to boil water until the water systems are repaired.

Yep. Mother Nature is demonstrating that we have absolutely no control over our regular summer routines or the special activities and trips we have put into our calendars.

RECOGNIZE THE STRESS

So, why my dissertation about Mother Nature and our hopes and plans for ‘normal’ weather to enjoy our summer?

Did you plan a fun adventure for yourself or your family but it got disrupted because where you were going is no longer feasible, or unforeseen weather events have occurred in or near your home that are thwarting your plans?

You may very well be experiencing the stress of figuring out how to deal with it all, what options you might have, or how to look after yourself and your family.

To support your mental, emotional, and physical stress, it is essential to help your body FEEL at ease and calm, to have your body experience expansive inhale and exhale, full vitality, and the ability to go with the flow no matter what is happening in your world.

What your body wants more than anything is the ability to be prepared for whatever you’re going to ask it to do and be prepared for whatever might come towards it. That could be physical or mental or emotional.

We don’t plan on experiencing stress, but we live in a world where stress exists, and when your routines and plans are impacted or blown up, they CAN be stress-inducing.

HOW TO GET THROUGH IT

So, here is the key. YOU can help your body feel prepared, cared for, healthy, and vital no matter what happens around you.

Spend time each day balancing your energy by doing:

• self-help acupressure
• meditating
• breath exercises
• doing yoga or Qi Gong
• walking
• gardening
• forest bathing
• beach exploring

Do what you can do under your circumstances. When you can, create physical experiences as you discover or rediscover the beautiful places you can visit and enjoy near where you live.

And if you have plans and maybe even a vacation that just got reconfigured because Mother Nature or something crazy took place, just recognize that YOU can help your body avoid the consequences of stress.

Instead, help your body recognize that change does not mean there is a space for anxiousness to be created.

GET YOUR FINGERTIPS READY

Here are some self-help acupressure tips I’ve been using for myself for the last few days.

I’m one of those folks having to accept that we need to change our plans. Our family camping vacation is now being redefined because of fires in Northern California. And, as I’m doing my energy flows, I’m also sending ease and calm and balancing flows to those who have been impacted by the traumatic experiences they’re going through.

You can do the same by using the following simple energy tips. Use your fingertips and hold the suggested acupressure points with a very light, gentle touch as you do them. And remember, there is no wrong because there is no right.

1. The Daily Clean Your House Flow™. Doing the Daily Flow brings me balance and a firm foundation for my physical, mental, and emotional well-being. (If you don’t know the Daily Flow, you can get it here).
2. Jumper Cables. It’s the 9th step of the Daily Clean Your House Flow. My body immediately experiences deeper breathing and brings calmness as my body says, “You don’t need to go to worry, fear, frustration, sadness, or trying too hard or too much. In fact, your body doesn’t want to live in any of those spaces.”
3. Cup your sternum under the collarbone and hold your other hand on your tummy. This simple energy hold brings breath and calm and lubricates all your tissues, including your throat, sinuses, eyes, and ears, as well as your muscles, ligaments, and tendons. This simple energy tip will help with shortness of breath and dry throat.
4. Hold the base of your skull and the outside of the wrist to connect with the entire nervous system. It will bring calm, the ability to connect with focus and clarity and let go of any anxiousness. It looks like this:
   Right hand – hold the right base of the skull
   Left hand – hold outside of right wrist on little finger side
5. And use your Thermostat Controller if you need to cool down!
   Hold the outside of your knees. This is how you can regulate your body temperature. It’s also an anti- inflammatory point. So, it’s a great energy point to have in your “remember to do this off and on throughout the day”.

I wish for you a fun-filled and safe summer, whether it’s planned or spontaneous. Stay stress-free and remember to GO WITH THE FLOW!

Hats Off to You Mom!

We all get it. Moms like you have lots on their plates to keep life happening, so Hats off to You, Mom!

First off, it’s everything that NEEDS to get done for the kids – school commitments, after-school activities, and keeping the kids on track with “doing well” at whatever they’re involved in, plus homework and their “I love doing this, and I can’t skip it.”

Sometimes, it seems like way too much getting juggled.

What if you’re caring for a parent or someone else, that’s another timeline that must be included in your day.

And let’s not forget the long list to take care of in your own life:

• work and its requirements
• time with your partner
• connecting with friends
• after-work activities
• exercise program
• quiet time
• sleep
• self-care

You get it – the list is crazy. How on earth do you do it all?

Ask Yourself This

Besides focusing on all the things, take a moment to reflect on yourself.

• Do you ever get to the space of feeling anxious about “too much and not enough time?”
• Do you ever tell yourself that you’re not doing everything good enough?
• Do you give yourself a lecture that it’s time you make some changes and make them now?

All of these are “anxious-making stuff,” and create havoc in your mind, your state of being, and potentially in your physical body.

• Do you notice that you’re holding your breath or clenching your jaw?
• Is your neck taking the brunt and holding up the weight of the world?
• Is your lower back feeling tight and sore, and is it hard to turn, lift, and stretch?

Maybe your body is experiencing one of those glitches or something else.

• Do you sometimes feel on edge, and maybe it’s hard to hold back an angry comment?
• Does your head hurt with the “too much to do” and the mind chatter it all creates?
• Does the mind chatter take over, and you find you’re being super hard on yourself and maybe others?
• Or do you feel like you’re just super tired and don’t know how to make it through the day?

If any of that is happening, that anxiousness is being experienced as a pattern in your body. And if you’re expressing yourself with angry comments or fretful impatience, it’s being noticed by others, including your kids.

If your kids see you being impatient and on edge, that is anxious behavior that they may very well model when they’re feeling overwhelmed and stressed.

The greatest gift you as a mom can give to your kids is modeling a way of being that is calm, no matter what is going on. When you show up composed, unruffled, and relaxed even when there is craziness in the day, they WILL notice and SEE your behavior as a soothing and peaceful way to be.

My Mother’s Day Gift to You

In the spirit of Mother’s Day, it’s time for YOU to receive a simple, easy way to “just be” and have your body experience breath and calm.

So, here is my gift of “just being.” And everything I share with you will work for everyone else in your life, including your kids, their teachers, your partner, and your best friends. Feel free to share what I’m going to suggest.

Following are some super simple self-help acupressure tips you can do anytime, anywhere.

Your body will start saying, “Do this,” and you’ll find that you and your body have created new habits that will make you feel better, healthier, and happier.

For each of the ‘poses’ below, use your fingertips with a light, gentle touch on the points I suggest, and hold each step for several good breaths.

So here you go!

To expand breath, ease anxiousness, assist with clarity and focus, feel stronger, have more vitality, and just feel good:

1. Give yourself a hug – just hold your fingers on the upper arms above your elbows.
2. Cup the back of your head using your right hand with fingers on the opposite base of the skull. Then cup your forehead using your left hand with fingers on the opposite side.
3. Cup your sternum below the collarbone (thumb on one side and fingers on the other). With the other hand, hold your fingers on your tummy.
4. To create more room for everything, including your neck and shoulders feeling more spacious and able to hold up your head and DO everything more easily…
   With your right hand, cup your left shoulder near your neck
   Place your left hand under your left sit bone or near it
   After a few breathes, switch hands.

5. Cup your fingers, one at a time (first one hand and then the other, starting with the thumb). This routine is called jumper cabling, and it helps to increase breath and balance emotions.

Keep Going!

Are you interested in knowing an energy flow pattern that takes less than 10 minutes? This energy flow can be used throughout the day, and it can create calm and breath as it works with every system in your body to bring balance and vitality.

It’s called the Daily Clean Your House Flow® , and it’s my gift to you and your family!

Hey Mom!  Give yourself a Happy Mother’s Day gift. Bring on the breath and calm and peace. Feel balance and harmony throughout your whole body.

Everyone in your life will appreciate you even more because you’re taking care of yourself. Enjoy your day and every day.

And LOTS of hugs! YOU deserve to be loved! 

3 Energy Tips for Your Spring Renewal

Where I live in northern California, spring is in full gear. The oak trees are showing their beautiful new leaves full of silver and sparkles. The daffodils are almost done blooming, but the iris plants are popping up in all their purple splendor.

It’s so much fun to see what flowers show up next. I allow myself to be surprised even though I really do know what to expect. The plants, flowers, and trees have it all figured out; they always know how they fit into the spring journey.

They are always on track, and they navigate the season with ease.

How about you and your journey?

Are you on track to navigate the goals you’ve made? More significant yet – are you happy with how you’re navigating your life, overall?

Spring is the time of year for renewal. The season puts us in a positive frame of mind for possibilities and growth. It provides the opportunity to rethink and refresh any plans you’ve been trying to move forward, or create new plans to step into.

Bloom into YOUR possibilities

It’s a given – life is a journey. Have you had those times when you felt the need to take a strong look at what direction you were going? Maybe you sensed that you needed to take a different route to get to your destination. These questions could easily relate to business or personal life choices.

Whatever happens in your day-to-day experiences or goes through your head, it’s essential to have the energy and vitality to be on your voyage.

And here’s the key – the navigation will be a lot easier when you have focus and clarity, and you can see your options, make decisions, and determine your action plan.

When you allow yourself to grow and bloom, you will fully discover how many possibilities await you around corners, curves, hills, and mountains. Take a chance and soar!

Three energy tips for improved navigation

No matter what destination you’ve put into your life’s GPS, these tips will help you arrive refreshed.

These acupressure poses are super easy to do. Hold each one with a light, gentle touch for several good breaths. There is no such thing as too much self-help, so do these as often as you think of them throughout the day!

1. Remember to give yourself room for grace. YOU are a super important being on this planet – so give yourself some love. Give yourself a hug!

Cross your arms and hold anywhere on your upper arms. You’re connecting with acupressure points that are all about your respiratory and vascular systems. Giving yourself a hug brings in a deep breath followed by a powerful exhale. And it allows your heart to feel the love and care you’re offering to your whole body.

2. Give yourself a boost of calm and vitality. Those two qualities must coexist for your energetic body to be present for all you want to do and accomplish.

Cup your sternum directly below your collarbone. With the other hand, hold your tummy below your navel.

3. Enhance your awareness of ALL that is happening around you, and you will bring clarity and focus.

With your right hand, cup your forehead and hold your fingers on the left side of your forehead.  Cup the base of the skull with your left hand and hold your fingers on the right base of the skull. And, you can easily switch your hands to give an extra boost.

Even though it may not be in full bloom in your area just yet, embrace the renewal of spring and support your body, mind, and spirit with some easy-to-do self-help acupressure techniques.

NOTICE!

And if you want to create your own internal GPS system to map out your wellness journey, I invite you to check out my popular 10-week course starting April 17^th.

At GPS for Body, Mind, & Spirit 2024, You’ll discover and practice the principles of energy balancing with Jin Shin Jyutsu and self-help acupressure techniques, so you can enhance self-care and improve your energy level for your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being.

Get all the class details and registration information here – COURSE DETAILS

Magic in Your Own Fingertips

Have you ever known someone you just can’t get enough of? Someone that’s wise, and funny, and inspiring. For me, that’s Vilma Ginzberg.

I’ve worked with Vilma for over 13 years. She is a retired psychologist, an exceptional writer, and a poet laureate. I relay that information because even though she’s almost 97 years old, Vilma can still express her thoughts and have conversations consistently full of information and insights.

I am inspired every time I see her, and genuinely hope to be like her as I mature into her age.

She’s generous, too. In the beginning of one of my books, “Easy Self-Help Acupressure for Grown-Ups”, she wrote,

“Using Deborah Myers Daily Clean Your House Flow routine is better than being a couch potato. This routine, done daily like brushing your teeth, is easy and rewarding.”

When I recently saw Vilma, we discussed my work with schools and students of all ages, plus workplace wellness programs. I commented that I love helping others discover how to balance their energy daily so they get from where they are to where they want to be.

As I continued doing the energy flows with her, Vilma said that she felt the energy flowing, and it felt like magic. Then she elaborated,

“You know. We carry this magic in our back pockets all the time. Often, we just sit on it instead of pulling it out and making use of it.”

Vilma had hit the nail on the head!

We both started laughing because, as you may know, one of my favorite comments is that we walk around with our fingers 24/7. We just need to pull them out of our pockets and make use of our fingertips to touch energy balance points and help our bodies find physical, mental, and emotional balance and harmony.

Vilma wanted me to show you our holiday picture. I brought the headbands along because I wanted to see that girl smile!

Yes, Sit on Your Hands!

Vilma and I also talked about how one of the Daily Clean Your House Flow® steps is sitting on your hands. That energy balance point is all about vitality and helps your body discover alignment.

When that point is in balance, we are genuinely pulling the magic out of our back pockets and connecting with all the possibilities that are ready to happen. We just have to give those possibilities a chance to show up.

Then there’s the pose that is sitting on one hand and holding the other hand on the opposite shoulder. That pose helps the body release blocked energy and move the energy throughout the body, allowing the meridians and channels to flow easily and effortlessly.

That is when the organs and body systems can fulfill their tasks, and your body experiences balance, rhythm, strength, health, comfort, stability, and happiness.

Can you see that when you help your body be prepared for whatever you want it to do, it WILL respond by taking you forward?

A Special Gift from Vilma

Here is the poem that Vilma wrote for me after the very first time she came for an in-person acupressure session.

healing hands

for Deborah Myers

© Vilma Ginzberg 09-22-2010

you invite me to your table

padded curved and angled

to accommodate my bone-outlined

flesh-defined body of exhaustion

I spread myself atop it

my yesterdays of try-to’s

planked across its ridges

unfinished have-to’s

making stiffened bridges

of old intent preserved in rock of habit

I hardly feel your first fingers

your touch puff-wing light   butterfly-soft

don’t you need something more jack-hammer-fisted I wonder

slow as morning light washes over doubt

melts layers of thought-armor

polishes the rusted jadedness

softly  subtly  slowly they come

subtle awakenings

stirrings of flesh    and feeling

worlds entire fall apart while other worlds congeal

universes faint away

give birth to new constellations

you move soundlessly around this altar to life

where I am both sacrificial lamb      and sacrament

soon I am as a sauce spilled on shapeless sheets

our mutual though silent rejoicing fills the empty spaces

outside the nearby window finches feed

gratefully on your thistle-seed

and some small uncaged bird in me

chirps again

Let’s pull your MAGIC out of your back pockets so you can achieve whatever you want to have happen in 2024!

Yes, I do in-person session at my home in Santa Rosa, CA, but I also help people to learn how to do self-help acupressure themselves.

Check my online calendar to see what might work best for you. Go to Deborah’s Calendar!

A GREAT OPPORTUNITY

Start your year off with a gift to yourself

Is there something you want to achieve or exceed at this year? In your business, personal, or school life?

Let’s get you on the right path to manifest your dreams at my new Do Anything Better workshop!

At this 3-session class, you’ll discover easy self-help acupressure techniques. This experience will open the door to better performance, balanced emotions, and overall life improvement by learning how to manage your body’s energy.

Event Details & Registration! 

How to make CHANGE easier

Balance your energy and be in connection with Change

No matter what’s happening in your world, it’s all about the change that is taking place. And that is what life IS. Every moment of your day is a transition from what was before to what it is becoming.

Today, I want to share some easy acupressure tips to help you better manage change in your life, AND introduce you to my amazing new Labyrinth, which also supports change.

Whether you use the word change, transition, transformation, transfiguration, or shift, the meaning is “an alteration or modification; the substitution of one thing for another.”

I, for one, have not always stepped into change easily. That is one of the primary reasons I appreciate my daily energy balancing using self-help acupressure and Jin Shin Jyutsu. I want to be in a state and position where I can move through my days easily and calmly. And energy balancing IS all about creating the space in which grounding, centering, calming, and ease want to exist.

How are YOU with change?

How do you handle change? That is THE big question!Your body has energy systems, and energy MUST change. If energy becomes and stays stuck, it will become stagnant. And stagnant energy will affect your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual states. It’s the stuck energy that can create “health problems.”

By the way, instead of health problems, I prefer using the phrase “health projects” because projects have a beginning and an end and are much more fun to work with. ~Deborah Myers

Move Your Body’s Energy

So, here is the key. Move your body’s energy by placing your fingertips on energy balance points to move the energy from one spot to another. Your body will respond by “letting go” of anything in the way of, so that you are:

• being balanced
• feeling ease and calm
• being healthy and pain-free
• having vitality
• being productive
• having focus and clarity
• balancing emotions
• improving the performance of anything you want to do better

You name what you want to improve, and you can create the space to help it happen. The following energy balancing tips are a great place to start.

ENERGY TIP: To release the tension around “old patterns” and help change them, these will also help let go of clenching jaw or teeth and “holding” your breath.

1. Right hand – cup sternum directly below clavicle (collar bone)
   *Left hand – hold fingertips in a vertical pattern below the naval
2. To eliminate the “need” to effort and to create a new pattern – use this as a trigger point to create the new pattern
   * Hold the outside of both knees using your fingertips
3. To release the “accumulation” of the old pattern and “consequences of holding on to the old pattern”
   * Cross arms holding the outside edge of your shoulder blades

Done daily, self-help acupressure can help bring about transition and transformation by unblocking and balancing your energy, so you can work with change.

A Labyrinth for Change

Even when going through a significant change, like moving from your home of many years, you can help make it easier and calmer. That’s what I’m in the midst of, and though it’s tough at times, I’m mostly staying in a place of hope, faith, and trust that gives me the space to allow and surrender to what the universe has to bring.

Then along comes my friend Lea Goode-Harris to add some magic to my garden with a new labyrinth! Now, one of my favorite places to be, this labyrinth is helping to make a difference.

A labyrinth is a circular curving path that leads to a center. When you walk the path to the center and back, it is known to “provide a path to practice change.”

I’ve always dreamed of having a labyrinth in my garden. Lea is a master labyrinth designer and we mulled over ideas for over six years. The idea of a plan became a “big project” that would’ve taken a lot of time, energy, and funds to make it happen. So, I put the project on the back burner.

A few weeks ago, Lea said, “It’s time for you, your garden, and your property to have that labyrinth. Let’s do it and create a simple and small version of what we had planned so you and your home can step into your next chapters.”

We did just that!

And on one Saturday morning, my garden labyrinth was born! It went faster with manual help from Octavio, my garden and landscape assistant.

If you’ve been with me for a while, you’ll know that I have loved creating my garden as an oasis. And now, the labyrinth is another way to enjoy the space. And whenever my home changes ownership, the new residents will have another beautiful way to enjoy the garden and embrace their own change.

The Joy of Walking a Labyrinth

If you have ever walked a labyrinth – you know how inspirational it can be. It’s a beautiful way to experience grounding, centering, balancing, and joy. As Lea explains, “They are instrumental in providing a path to practice change.”

“Labyrinths are symbols of hope, wonder, and self-discovery. They are a perfect place to plant seeds for the future.”  ~Lea Goode-Harris

I have walked my labyrinth several times daily over the last several weeks. I did so with deep thought, prayer, and willingness to accept the challenges and changes the universe and the divine are bringing my way.

As a result, I found it easier to deal with the craziness thrown at me with what could have become a major technical fiasco for my business. After a Zoom account melt down, it’s taken a lot of discussions and strategizing with Zoom, and with fantastic customer service, it appears it’s all working out. A change to move forward.

I also know that the magic of this labyrinth is bringing the space to receive the new owners who will fall in love with my home. The day after Lea and I created it, over 13 couples/families showed up at an open house in two hours. The flow of energy is bringing the new family here soon.

To read more about labyrinths and see what my friend, Lea Goode-Harris, has accomplished in her world, check out her website at https://www.creativelabyrinths.com. Be ready to step into the world of labyrinth magic!

How about YOU?

Do you have ways that help you magically move through life? Help your body and overall wellness with self-help acupressure, and incorporate experiences like labyrinth walking, or other tools. Change is inevitable.

Living in your body with reduced stress, increased mindfulness, and feeling better about yourself will help you transition through whatever change is happening in your life. Change IS happening all the time – so make it easier!

Whether it’s change with your physical body, personal life, relationships, or business – change doesn’t have to be tough.  Just be aware that you can ease your way through it.

Get more insights and help to manage change >> Change and Resistance.

Be in the Best Mood for the Holidays

Happy Holidays!

Is something going on in your world causing you to feel stressed? The bummer is that stress can affect your mood. And especially during the holidays, your state of mind and emotions can steal the magic right out of the season.

Watch this short video, under 3 minutes, for a tour of my holiday decorations.

I Love Color and Sparkle

I don’t know about you. But for me, I love what the holidays bring—joy, lights, colors, music, special events, gatherings with family, special moments with friends, kids’ excitement. Every single bit of it is magical.

No matter who you are with during this time, whether family, friends, or business colleagues, your mood and emotions can affect your relationships.

Here are a few energy points to help you balance your emotions and let go of stress

1. Hug yourself—it will open your breath while you are giving a message to your body that you are taking care of it. It will also help expand awareness about relationships with others.
2. Hold the base of your skull—it will increase consciousness and awareness so you can be more mindful and sensitive to those around you.
3. Jumper Cable—gently cup each thumb and finger to help calm your emotions. (This is the 9^th step of the Daily Clean Your House Flow and you can do it multiple times during the day). Balancing your emotions will assist you to be “more available” when you are with others.
4. With one hand—cup your sternum below the collarbones. With the other hand, hold your fingers on your tummy. This will release tension in the jaw and throat, create easy breath, and help you go forward with calm and ease.

I wish you LOTS of joy and magic during this holiday season!

Have fun!!

Happy Holidays!

You may also like these resources:

Articles – Deborah Myers Wellness

Videos – Deborah Myers Wellness

Remedies for Dryness During a Drought

There is no doubt we are in a drought

Drought. Here in Northern California and other parts of the world are experiencing extreme weather: some too hot, others too wet, lots of confusion and shifts in seasonal patterns.

My garden is my cheerful spot. Reflecting on the water situation in my area made me realize changes to the weather are affecting more than the land we live on. Our bodies, the other critters who inhabit the earth, and plants are responding to these dry conditions. I share my thoughts and solutions to keep you feeling your best and in balance.

I took this video in my garden and runs 6 minutes 41 seconds

Lapping up Sunshine

I am down in my garden, lapping up the sun and the vitamin D. It is a gorgeous day. The mid-afternoon sky is blue. The sun is shining. It’s a little warm, but at least it cooled. We’re lucky where we are. Sonoma County has been giving us the experience of waking up to the fog and starting with cool days.

Everyone is talking about the heat and dryness and the drought. I know we’re not the only ones. The need for rain is prevalent in many places throughout the country and the world.

I’m working on saving water

Just like a lot of other folks, I’m collecting water from my shower and finding other ways to reuse water. In my garden, I’m also determining what changes to make. It’s decision-making time. We are in a drought cycle.

I had to make a hard decision a few days ago. I emptied my fountain. That required that it get thoroughly cleaned to ensure that the pump stays viable when it doesn’t have water.

Oh my. I can’t even believe how much I was used to the sound of the water cascading from one basin to the next. I’m already missing it immensely. And I’m also looking at the plants in the garden and determining what I can keep alive. If a plant is in jeopardy and having a hard time, I need to consider whether it is time to let it go. Water is a finite substance, even when you’re on a well.

Bring fluid to your body

Guess what? Your body needs fluid, too. Are you getting enough good water with electrolytes to feed every cell, so your body recognizes that it has plenty to assimilate? Your body needs to experience a state of sustenance.

So, make sure you’re getting enough vitamin D and enough good fluids that feed every cell of your being. Help your body know that you are consistently nourishing it.

According to the National Centers for Environmental Information, drought can have an adverse impact on people:

“Drought can also affect people’s health and safety. Examples of drought impacts on society include anxiety or depression about economic losses, conflicts when there is not  enough water, reduced incomes, fewer recreational activities, higher incidents of heat stroke, and even loss of human life.”

You can find out more about weather and the environment on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) website.

And where would I be without doing a little energy work?

Ready to help your body receive extra fluidity? This self-help acupressure movement will help your body accept and move lubrication to every cell.

Cup the sternum below your collarbones and hold your other hand on your tummy directly below your navel. It’s that easy!

When you do this, it helps your body accept and let go simultaneously. How can the body do that? It’s magic! The body is so darn clever! The energy balance points under your collarbones give your body the signal to receive, gather, and disperse fluid, food, breath, and energy. When you put your hand on your tummy, you are connecting with an energy balance area that brings all of that to every cell of your being.

Have you noticed that your body seems to take on the dryness of your environment? You may have dry skin, sinuses, ears, nostrils, mouth, and eyes. Do this simple self-help acupressure movement to relieve the discomfort. Hold each energy balance point with a light touch for several good breaths. By the way, instead of problems, I call them projects. Projects are more fun to work with and have a beginning and an end!

For left side pressure/tension or “project”
Right hand—hold fingers along the right side of your neck
Left hand—fingers “travel” along the left side of the “centerline”

* at top of head close to “centerline”
* then just into hairline
* next, move fingers to the left side of forehead
* and then to the inside of left eyebrow
* place fingers at left cheekbone close to nostril
* and next, rest fingers just below left collarbone, close to your sternum,

For a right side “project,” switch your hands

Take Care of Your Body and Your Home

I hope you find you can do these energy flows easily and effortlessly. That’s what this is all about—helping your body remember how to be in flow and at ease.

You’re taking care of your garden and yard so they can more easily come back after they struggle with dryness. Give your body at least the same amount of attention, and maybe more!

Remember, any body needs to be taken care of. So, be good to your garden, and take care of your property. And take care of this body that you walk around in. It’s your house. It’s there for you. Your body deserves it!

Boost Your Immune System!

Boost Your Immune System!

Jane, a new client, recently said, “A session with Deborah turned the tide for me! I was feeling lousy and thought I was getting a cold.”

Within a few minutes of starting our call, she felt relief from sinus pressure, headache, and achiness.

“…And then she gave me self-help acupressure flows to continue using for allergies and my Covid shot!

Those flows and energy tips keep on doing the trick, and I’ve had more energy than I’ve had in days. Now I see Deborah regularly, and my body is a lot happier with no aches and pain. I live hundreds of miles away from her, but those Zoom sessions are changing my life. I didn’t even have reactions after my second Covid vaccination!!

Deborah’s right! Boost your immune system, and your body will be happier!”

Energy balancing IS all about strengthening your immune system!

COVID brings the conversation about immune systems front and center. A stronger immune system will help you and your body resist germs and bugs, reduce allergy symptoms, potentially lessen reactions to vaccinations, and calm the nervous system.

There are healthy ways to strengthen your immune system

Harvard Health Medical School suggests that following general good-health guidelines is the best way to keep your immune system working properly. A few of the top strategies include:

• Minimize stress.
• Eat a diet high in fruits and vegetables.
• Exercise regularly
• Get adequate sleep.
• Take steps to avoid infection, such as washing your hands frequently.

You can read more about what they say at —

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/how-to-boost-your-immune-system

Harvard Health study says stress can suppress your immune system, increase your susceptibility to illness, contribute to anxiety, and cause depression.

We can’t avoid all sources of stress in our lives, nor would we want to. But we can develop healthier ways of responding to them. Harvard Health recommends that breath and relaxation can make a difference in your wellbeing.

I’d like to show you how YOU can help your body let go of stress and not have it accumulate in your system.

Self-care Practice

A self-care practice teaches your body how to take care of itself and to be healthy and vital. While doing your self-help acupressure, you are also doing the following and a lot more–expanding breath, relieving pain, having more vitality for your daily activities, managing feelings, sharpening clarity and focus, increasing creativity and productivity.

Here are self-help acupressure energy tips to boost your immune system, relieve allergies, and help you move easily through your vaccination.

1.  Right hand—cup right shoulder near the neck
   • Left hand—hold fingers on the left chest below the collarbone
   • Switch to do the other side
2. Right hand—hold fingers on the right base of the skull
   • Left hand—hold fingers on left base of the skull
3. Right hand—cup forehead with fingers on the left side
   • Left hand—cup back of head with fingers on the right base of the skull
   • Switch to do the other side
4. Left hand—cup right shoulder near the neck
   • Right hand—hold fingers at sitz bone/hip area
   • Switch to do other side

Harvard Medical Recommends

Harvard Medical identifies several techniques to help turn down your response to stress. Breath focus helps with nearly all of them:

1. 1. • Progressive muscle relaxation
      • Meditation
      • Yoga, tai chi, and Qi Gong
      • Guided imagery

Add self-help acupressure to the list!!

Read more about why Harvard Health Medical School suggests relaxation techniques to reduce stress.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/relaxation-techniques-breath-control-helps-quell-errant-stress-response

Another resource on how to cope with stress during troublesome times

University of Maryland Medical System

https://www.umms.org/coronavirus/what-to-know/managing-medical-conditions/healthy-habits/stress-management

Dr. Stephanie Knight, Chief of Psychiatry, suggests these tips to help cope with stress during troublesome times:

1. 1. 1. Stay connected with friends and family members. It’s important to be processing your thoughts out loud, rather than keeping them close to your chest.
      2. Eat healthy
      3. Exercise regularly
      4. Get outside
      5. Get plenty of rest
      6. Practice mindfulness activities, such as meditation, journaling, movement, yoga, pay attention to sensations

Additional Resources to Boost Your Immune System

Ah(choo) Spring!

Allergies Getting the Best of You?

Finding Joy and Ease Amid Our Topsy-Turvy World

How to Reduce Stress and Have Your Joy

April is Stress Awareness Month

Corona Virus Prevention Recommendations

Get Your Free Stress Relief Guide

It’s easy and all you need is to click on this link.

Hope, Faith & Energy

Photo by Inna Lesyk from Pexels

Hope, Faith & Energy

Are you feeling at odds, unhappy, maybe lonely? Are you feeling overwhelmed and unsure of what you should do next to clear the to-do list? Perhaps you’re also taking care of others, and you have their feelings and needs to look after, too.

If you have all of that going on and even more “stuff,” you might experience a sense of hopelessness, feeling that it’s never going to change. And, with all of that, you’re most likely experiencing some fatigue. Dealing with it is just too much!

Look at everything that is going on in this crazy world. COVID-19, social distancing, massive civil unrest, fires or hurricanes or flooding depending on where you live, evacuations, destruction, the election. Okay. The list is already too long, especially since each one of those can create stress and anxiety and the feeling that “it’s just too much.” No wonder we hear the phrase “pandemic fatigue.”

Kids are Feeling Stressed Out

What’s sad is that children are experiencing the same stress, overwhelm, not knowing what’s coming next, frustration, and sadness. They feel exhausted by social distancing, not being with their friends, and feeling hemmed in.

How do we cope and get on the other side of it? It’s super important to help our bodies get to that place. Otherwise, our bodies will think they are in constant trauma.

Trauma Adds Stress

Trauma and the effects of trauma bring us to a place of being on edge, wary, confused, even holding our breath. Energetically, trauma causes the energy pathways to get blocked and stuck. Energy needs to move, and it needs to change. Otherwise, our bodies will manifest “projects” that can cause unhealthiness and chronic fatigue. (Instead of problems, let’s use the word projects. They’re more fun to work with, and they have a beginning and an end).

Tips for Reducing the Effects of Stress

I have some easy-to-do ideas on how to get on the other side of it all.

Number One

We can help our bodies get out of confusion and create calm. You can do easy self-help acupressure to let go of fatigue and develop physical, mental, and emotional balance. It will help you sleep easily, feel healthy, be happy and joyful, have clarity and focus, increase self-esteem, and feel optimistic about tomorrow and beyond.  That’s where hope and faith come into the picture! (There’s a link at the end of the article to get you to easy self-help energy tips).

Number Two

I think we need to take Oprah’s advice that I read in her recent Inspiration Newsletter. We need to embrace hygge, the Danish art of coziness. Danes rank as the happiest people in the world, even today.  How do they get to that place?

Photo by Daria Rem from Pexels

What the Danes Do to Feel Happier

The Danish make sure that several essential elements are part of their daily lives, including relaxed thoughtfulness, meditation, and time spent with others. And, yes, we can spend time with others without actual physical contact. Now more than ever, we need to create time with others that create an atmosphere that is warm, relaxed, friendly, down-to-earth, close, comfortable, snug, and welcoming. It is like a friendly hug—but without the physical contact. In this situation, you can be yourself and relax completely. Therefore, the art of hygge is also the art of expanding your comfort zone to include other people.

So, I guess we have to do it with social distancing and maybe even over Zoom. No matter what, create the time for cozy togetherness! Our bodies, hearts, and souls hunger for it!

Another significant element the Danes bring into their lives is “living lights.” They make use of candles to bring light and create sunny smiles.

Maybe this year, we need to make sure we put up those holiday lights for the color and the sparkling lights that bring those big smiles. As many of you know, I love Christmas. What I also know is that I need those lights as the days get shorter and shorter. And, even though very few people will see my Christmas extravaganza, it just might be the year it all gets displayed.

Read more about Embracing Hygge:

http://www.oprah.com/health_wellness/how-to-embrace-hygge#ixzz6cNxufzLL

Hope and Change

Another piece we need to be aware of—change wants to happen, and it needs to happen. The body you walk around in is in constant flux because it’s energy. A body in energetic balance will quickly experience the change, and it will be a positive shift. The trick is to be creative in appreciating ourselves and find enjoyment within the shift. Maybe the difference is merely relishing an accomplishment.

Consider using this simple worksheet to help you see the changes that you can implement. It uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, which uses your mind to notice the good stuff. It focuses on behavioral changes in your daily life, for instance, tracking your emotions according to your activities. So, it’s learning how to notice when your body is giving you a message.

behavioral-activation quiz

If you would like to learn more about behavioral-based therapy, visit the Therapist Aid website.

Your Key to Hope, Faith  & Energy

To help your body thoroughly experience change and get messages, go to my website and click on the purple button, “Learn the Daily Flow.” You will receive self-help acupressure suggestions that will help your body experience balance and harmony. Included is the Daily Clean Your House Flow® and energy tips to expand the breath, let go of frustration, achieve focus, boost motivation, and increase productivity. Now, those are some changes your body will appreciate!  And you are fully experiencing hope, faith, and energy. Enjoy the movement and the difference!